A 48-hour strike began at 10pm on Monday evening in at both prisons in Flemish Brabant city of Leuven. From this evening (Tuesday 14 May) prison officers will down tools at jails in Limburg Province. Staff at prisons in West Flanders will strike from Wednesday evening.
Strike notices have also been issued for the two other Flemish provinces and for Brussels. Prison officers in East Flanders will down tools from 10pm on Monday 20 May, while prison staff in Brussels will stop work at 10pm on Tuesday 21 May. Prison officers in Antwerp province will strike for 48 hours from 10pm on Wednesday 22 May.
Eddy De Smedt of the liberal public sector union VSOA says that the willing to take industrial action is great among prison officers. "This is why new strike notices have been issued". The unions have no figures on the number of prison officers that are currently on strike in Flemish Brabant.
Strike action has been under way in Belgian prisons since 1 April. It is in protest at overcrowding and staff shortages. Mr De Smedt told journalists that there are currently 12,150 prisoners being held in the country’s jails while there is only capacity for 10,770 prisoners. The unions say that a proposal by the Federal Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Flemish liberal) to extend prison leave is insufficient as it only concerns 250 prisoners.
The unions are calling for the conditional early release of certain prisoners nearing the end of their sentences and for the execution of short prison sentences to be put on hold. Further talks between the unions and the Justice Department are scheduled for 23 May.